I’ve always said that I’m not a baker, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love Joy the Baker, a prolific food blogger and judging by her words, a very sweet human being. Even so, I don’t think I’ve made many of her recipes — see the “not a baker” part. When she published a post about Carmelized Mushrooms and Dumplings, however, um, yeah, I had to make that. Now, please.

In the recipe, the “dumplings” are actually pepper and chive biscuits, which are placed over a savory mix of veggies and baked to golden brown. I’ve made a similar dish in the past at the recommendation of Smitten Kitten, a thickened stew of chicken pot-pie-esque filling covered with sweet-potato biscuits, and damn, that was good. (I’ll blog it sometime, promise.) It was also heavy and fatty and butt-enlarging. Joy the Baker’s vegetarian-friendly version still includes butter, of course, but it is lighter. It also feels lighter and very fresh.

Let’s get on with it then. Biscuits first.

My store was out of chives. Last week, they were out of fennel. I’m getting frustrated with my store. No matter. Very thinly sliced green onion tops worked just fine in the biscuit dough, which comes together easily. Even I can make biscuits. No rising required. No perfect temperatures or humidity levels. Just a big bowl of stuff to mush together.

No, your biscuits need not be flower-shaped. Flower is simply the only shape of cutter I own — other than my Ninjabread Men cutters. Damnmit. I should have used those.

The watery light of a winter afternoon. It was just beginning to snow, and the light was so pretty near my sink. The mushrooms seemed to fit the mood perfectly. Earthy, dark, rich, meaty.

The good for you stuff. Be sure to dice the potatoes small, because with the shortish cooking time specified, they would turn out way too hard otherwise.

It took me years to learn how to properly (in my opinion) cook mushrooms. They’re usually tasty no matter how you cook them as long as you don’t mess up too horribly, but I love how these carmelized. Add them in one layer and do not touch them for 4-5 minutes. Let the oil and butter mixture sear them nicely. In this recipe and always, don’t add salt until after the mushrooms release their juices. Salting earlier seems to hinder softening. Remove the mushrooms from the pan when they are juicy and soft, but still retain some bite.

Diced small, the rest of the veggies will be similarly soft but still toothsome after about 7 minutes. I enjoy this method of thickening: Add the flour to the veggies, stir to coat all of them, and allow it to cook enough to remove that raw flour flavor, then slowly stir in the broth in batches. (The other method is to create a roux in an empty pan, then add ingredients.)

The rest is pretty self-explanatory.

The snow was falling. The roads were getting slick. And my favorite Le Cruset casserole dish was full of this steaming, hearty, delicious meal, and we heartily tucked in. An instant classic at Casa Local Dish, and meal that will immediately be put into the menu rotation.

Today, there’s a blizzard warning. The schools are closed. Guess what I’m looking forward to having for lunch?

Green things in this post: casserole dish, place mats, tea pot, the edge of my green utensil holder, peas and chives. Nice job, Kate!

Related Recipes

• Carmelized Mushrooms and Dumplings